BigHornRam
Well-known member
A Victor man has been ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution and a $1,000 fine for illegally killing a trophy bighorn sheep.
Dennis Barbian shot the bighorn on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River and brought it to the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks office in Missoula to be registered on a license issued to his daughter.
Because Barbian's daughter was away at college and it is illegal for anyone other than the permit holder to shoot an animal, game wardens became suspicious. Barbian's daughter came into the Missoula FWP office a few days later and claimed the sheep was hers, but wardens learned in follow-up interviews it would have been impossible for her to have shot the animal.
Justice of the Peace John Odlin issued the restitution order and fine to Barbian on Wednesday.
"This is a trophy by any sheep hunter's imagination," said FWP Warden Capt. Jeff Darrah. "It would be one of the top 200 bighorn sheep ever shot in the United States."
To qualify as a trophy animal, a bighorn sheep's horns must make at least a three-quarter circle. The sheep Barbian shot had horns that made a complete circle.
If the animal had not been of trophy quality, the penalty would have been $2,000, Darrah said.
The sheep will be mounted and used as an educational piece by FWP to explain the consequences of illegal hunting in Montana.
Dennis Barbian shot the bighorn on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River and brought it to the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks office in Missoula to be registered on a license issued to his daughter.
Because Barbian's daughter was away at college and it is illegal for anyone other than the permit holder to shoot an animal, game wardens became suspicious. Barbian's daughter came into the Missoula FWP office a few days later and claimed the sheep was hers, but wardens learned in follow-up interviews it would have been impossible for her to have shot the animal.
Justice of the Peace John Odlin issued the restitution order and fine to Barbian on Wednesday.
"This is a trophy by any sheep hunter's imagination," said FWP Warden Capt. Jeff Darrah. "It would be one of the top 200 bighorn sheep ever shot in the United States."
To qualify as a trophy animal, a bighorn sheep's horns must make at least a three-quarter circle. The sheep Barbian shot had horns that made a complete circle.
If the animal had not been of trophy quality, the penalty would have been $2,000, Darrah said.
The sheep will be mounted and used as an educational piece by FWP to explain the consequences of illegal hunting in Montana.
